Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters, those belong to CBS and show creators.

Warnings: Cute, holiday fluff

A/N: Needed some fluff so I wrote some Christmas fluff with the DiNozzo kids (McGee twins and Victoria will be making an appearance later). Plan to post one chapter every Friday/Saturday until Christmas :)

All I Want For Christmas

Hot cocoa, cinnamon, and pine made a wonderful mixture of holiday smells. Added to this the sound of children's laughter—it was a beautiful, perfect holiday setting. Anthony DiNozzo stepped in through the kitchen of his home, brushed the snow from his jacket and peered down the hall. The sounds of his children laughing and chatting were coming from the den, along with the soft voice of Bing Crosby crooning Christmas carols.

Tony opened the closet underneath the stairs and hung his coat up, gently shutting the door. Locking his SIG up, he then slipped out of his damp loafers and went to join his family. Immediately, two children charged off the floor where they were playing and came directly for their father. Tony laughed and pretended to let them tackle him to the floor, tickling them just so he could hear their precious giggles.

Jack surrendered first, rolling off of his father and going back to his toys. Grace sat on Tony's stomach for a moment, her little green eyes looking at him happily. Tony sat up, grabbing her into his arms as he stood and picking her up off the floor. He went to sit down on the sofa with his wife, and with Grace squished between them, he kissed her, gently. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi," Leah said, with a smile, "there's some hot chocolate in the thermos on the kitchen island if you're chilly."

"Not chilly, I have my Gracie girl to snuggle with," Tony said, planting a soft kiss on his daughter's head. "How was your day?"

"We went to see Santa," Grace said, smiling up at her father. She snuggled into his arms and made herself comfortable. "And had our picture taken!"

Tony noticed the photographs in piles on the coffee table, ready to go when Leah mailed her Christmas cards in the coming days. "And how did Mommy manage the mall? Was everything okay?" he directed towards his very pregnant wife.

Leah chuckled and turned the page of the magazine that was resting on her belly. "Mommy did just fine. I can still waddle around you know. Although, I think the poor elf that was helping Santa today thought I was going to pop at any moment."

Grace looked between her parents before questioning, "Is that how they get the baby out? Are they going to pop Mommy like a balloon?"

Jack startled and glanced at his mother. "Mom, they're not really going to do that, are they?"

"No. They are not going to pop me like a balloon. The baby will tell me when he or she is ready to come out."

"How? The baby can't talk!"

"Mommy will just know."

Tony laughed when he saw the confused looks pass over Jack and Grace's features. Depending on how bad the contractions were the whole neighborhood might know when their little one decided to come into the world. He reached over and rubbed Leah's belly. They had been trying for baby number three since Grace had turned three but Leah had struggled to get pregnant. Even after the doctor told them to just keep trying, Tony had seen Leah become a little despondent. He'd finally told her one night as they laid in bed that it was okay if they couldn't have a third child—he was happy.

Leah had stressed less and less about getting pregnant after that. It was a month before Grace's fourth birthday that Leah had found out she was pregnant. It was almost fitting that it had taken them so long to conceive this child that the baby's due date was around Christmas. This baby was a precious gift to them.

"We asked Santa if we could have the baby come before Christmas," Grace said, interrupting his thoughts.

"He said he'd bring us some nice baby dolls," Jack muttered as he worked on his Legos.

"Santa maybe be amazing, but he can't tell the baby when to arrive," Leah informed them with a soft smile. It faded when she saw the sad look in Tony's eyes. "Tony?"

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Sliding Grace off of his lap, Tony stood and announced, "You know what, I think I'm going to have that hot chocolate after all." He quickly left the den and went into the kitchen, grabbing a mug and thermos. Maybe the hot chocolate would chase way the terrible memory but somehow he doubted that, those memories were always stronger at Christmas time.

She followed him into the kitchen. Leah stood on the other side of the kitchen island and studied him for a moment. "Is something wrong? Are you upset that I took to the kids to see Santa without you? Because it was a rather spur of the moment thing—we were out getting some things for Jack's class party and the line was short..."

Tony sighed and moved around the island, reaching for her hand. "No, I'm not upset that you took the kids to see Santa. I was just... remembering a time when I was little."

Leah could see him closing up to her. Years and years of building trust in one another, there were still certain topics that Tony was not comfortable telling her about. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about. Christmas wasn't a happy time for me as a child," Tony said, stirring his hot chocolate. He noticed she was looking at him, pensively. "When they were... you know, talking about what they asked Santa for... when I was eight, just after my mom died... I saved up the change to take the bus into the city... stood in line for what felt like hours... to ask Santa to bring my mom home. I just... I didn't want to be alone anymore."

"What did Santa say?" Leah inquired, softly, her heart breaking for the child that her husband had once been.

Tony sighed, heavily. "He said he wasn't sure he could bring my mom home, but he would make sure I got a nice Matchbox car set. Christmas morning came and there was no car set or my mom."

Leah went to hug him, which was difficult and awkward because of her large pregnant belly, but he somehow managed to wrap his arms around her. "I hope that the holidays are better for you now."

He smiled and left a lingering kiss on the top of her head. "Oh, yes, they are much better now that I have you and the kids."

She felt a little better, but not much. It broke her heart how lonely her husband's childhood had been but despite all that Tony was a wonderful father. Jack and Grace were loved, cared for—they didn't know what it felt like to be abandoned. "If Santa could bring me a time machine I would go back in time and tell little Tony that it gets better."

"That's awfully sweet of you," Tony said with a little chuckle. "And it just didn't get better... it was a dream come true."

"Daddy," Grace's voice called down the hall, followed by her little footsteps. "Daddy, will you watch a movie with me?"

"Sure princess," Tony said, grabbing his hot chocolate before scooping Grace up with his free arm and heading into the living room. "What are we going to watch?"

"Polar Express!"

"Again?"

Grace stuck her lower lip out into a pout. "Please, Daddy?"

Tony sighed and plopped her down onto the sofa. He found the DVD and put it into the player. Grabbing a blanket he sat down on the sofa and snuggled with his little girl and watched her favorite holiday movie. He didn't care about having to watch this movie again for what felt like the one hundredth time since the Christmas season had started—he loved these little moments. He loved snuggling with his little girl just as much as he loved tossing a football out in the back yard with Jack—he loved being a daddy period.